Miracles
by Les-Gateaux
Summary: Yuuta asks his sister to force a truce between Fuji and Mizuki on Christmas eve. Unfortunately, they end up getting rather too friendly...FujiMizu


Disclaimer: I own several yards of homework for winter break, but that's all.

_A/N: So recently I've been getting PMs and reviews asking me to finish all the stories I started, which is a reasonable request that I'm kind of not going to grant, 'cause I'm swamped (see Disclaimer) and also because the plot bunnies for those stories abandoned me long ago (plot bunnies, it seems, do not like brain cells as much as real bunnies like carrots; and my plot bunnies have disappeared in search of a human with a more vegetable-like mind). _

_But as it's the holiday season and all (yeah, this was meant to be finished by Xmas, only I didn't quite make it), this is just a quick gift (will post the second half sometime soon, 'cause this ended up being really, really long). Thanks for all your support! As a warning though, I haven't seen any eps of PoT since 130 or so. And that was a year ago. So probably everyone will be OOC, sorry._

_(I'll probably also be spinning out random fics of all pairings, genres, and fandoms 'til winter break is over, just as a parting present.) _

**Miracles**

THE doorbell rang on Christmas eve, and Fuji Syusuke pounced before Yumiko had a chance to look up from her distinctly smutty yaoi manga, the cover of which had led to several traumatizing experiences concerning the self-proclaimed heterosexual who was the youngest Fuji sibling. It wasn't as if anyone _believed_ that claim; still, it was fun to see him turn red every time his eyes fell upon said manga – the title of which, incidentally, was _Brother_ – and deteriorate into stutters. Judging by how quickly Fuji had moved, it was probably Yuuta himself who had arrived.

Only Fuji's sixth sense had been very very off, and rather than Yuuta standing there, it was Yuuta's manager. Who, as Fuji often mentioned, was an absolute bitch, and radioactive to boot.

Glancing sideways at the manager's fluorescent lavender shirt, Yumiko found it hard to disagree.

"Oh, Mituli-san, it's a pleasure to see you," Fuji murmured, opening his eyes slightly so that sapphire orbs peered up through silky, near-translucent lashes. "Though I must admit I wasn't expecting you – had a wonderful dream where you'd been run over by a herd of rampaging wildebeest, you know."

Mizuki smiled back. "A bit old to be believing in dreams, aren't you?"

"Actually, I prefer to retain some childish aspects – though this is in no way an insult to you, Mituli-san, as I'm sure you enjoy having lost your innocence in _every_ sense of the word. Shall I take that pie?" He removed the offering Mizuki was holding and set it down very carefully by a garbage can, so that even the slightest movement would have caused the pastry to fall in.

"Thank you, Fuji-san, and I do believe you'll enjoy it, as Yuuta-kun finds…tremendous pleasure…in _all_ the substances I feed him."

("Oh wow," Yumiko murmured, and abandoned her manga in favor of listening to the blatant sexual innuendo running rampant in her living room.)

Fuji's eyes were now fully open, and his smile was at its sweetest and most devilish. "If only he had the ability to escape from your sinuous coils, I'm certain Yuuta would never ingest the swill you create."

"_My_ coils? And here I'd thought you were the one with the adder's tongue."

"You _would _have sufficient knowledge of tongues to judge, I suppose."

Mizuki smirked. "Not that much knowledge, Fuji-san, though I do know enough to say that your poisonous fangs don't run in the family."

"This is highly amusing," Yuuta seethed, having arrived in time to hear a few exchanges, "but if you keep fighting, aniki, I _will _go back to the St. Rudolph dorms, and no, Mizuki-san, you will _not_ be allowed in my room. Also, I am freezing, and you are blocking the doorway, and these gifts are breaking my arms, and – Nee-san, would you do something, please?"

Yumiko smiled. "Syusuke, let Yuuta come in, and his manager too…Mituli-san, was it?"

"Mizuki," Yuuta said resignedly, while Mizuki flushed and Fuji laughed lightly.

--

Dinner went well, if the new definition of 'well' involved plates of hot soup ending up in Mizuki's hair and on Fuji's face. At least Yuuta had rescued the pie from its precarious perch, and, after the aforementioned boys had washed up, Yumiko slid the warmed pie onto the dinner table. It did look delicious, what with the soft glaze on the top and raspberries peeking out through the latticed crust.

"It looks wonderful," Fuji complimented, so innocently that even Mizuki relaxed and smiled back. The smile disappeared very, very suddenly when a long, wicked-looking knife slammed into the table an inch away from the manager's fingers. "Shall I serve?"

"_No_, aniki," Yuuta said, very firmly. "Give it to me, I'll do it." He picked up the knife that his brother reluctantly relinquished and sighed. "Also, there is no reason why anyone would use an authentic Turkish scimitar to cut a pie, you know?"

"I thought the hilt added a sort of festive feel. Besides, Nee-san got it for me last Christmas."

"I was young and stupid," Yumiko said, in response to Yuuta's glare, and sauntered off to find a more acceptable kitchen utensil. The hilt of the knife was decorated with a mural of human heads rotting in poison, and, while the pattern certainly was red and green, it was anything but festive.

But in the end, the pie was successfully cut, and successfully dropped on a certain manager's feet, and successfully smeared onto a certain tensai's shirt, and lo, the world was joyous.

While Mizuki and Fuji slipped off to clean themselves again, Yuuta volunteered to do the dishes (giving his parents a heart attack of sorts) and cornered Yumiko into doing the drying. "It may be my imagination," she remarked, brandishing a towel as Hippolyta must have once brandished her spear, "but is there perhaps something going on between Syusuke and your friend?"

"You're the epitome of intelligence, Nee-san."

"And you can't recognize sarcasm, it seems. But really, if they make me clean food off the carpet one more time, I'm going to kill them. And that would be sad, considering I'm very fond of Syusuke, and Mizuki-san is growing on me, rather like those putrid roses are growing on his shirt."

"Actually," Yuuta admitted, "I was going to ask you for help. They are driving me _insane_, and I invited Mizuki-san over for Christmas to see if you could perhaps force them to be friends using your arcane powers or whatever."

Yumiko replied, rather gently, "I read fortunes, Yuuta. I can't work miracles. I also can't summon demons, however much Syusuke asks me to."

"Surely you can do _something_, even with fortune-telling."

"I don't see how –" And then Yumiko stopped, an idea coming into her head, and the edges of her lips twitched up into an expression very reminiscent of her tensai brother's.

"AGH," said Yuuta, very loudly. "You look like _aniki_."

"Really? I must be getting prettier," she chirped back brightly. And, still with the evil grin upon her visage, Fuji Yumiko marched off in search of her tarot cards.

--

Christmas morning brought out the best in people, and this was true in the Fuji household. Bearing several cups of hot chocolate, Fuji Syusuke placed them down on the coffee-table next to their Christmas tree and avoided spilling a drop, even on Mizuki, though it was very tempting.

Still, no one was really surprised when Mizuki took a sip and leapt up, clutching at his throat. "You think he would've learned," Yumiko remarked, and Yuuta, saying nothing, drank from his own cup quiescently.

Fuji, however, looked honestly astonished, and took a cautious sip from his own mug. "Ah," he said. "Sorry, Mituli-san, I believe I switched our cups by accident. You're probably not used to having wasabi added to your cocoa, I guess."

"Gakk," said Mizuki, and fled to the kitchen, where several trays of ice cubes were emptied down his throat.

The presents were exchanged without incident, though Yuuta did eye the six-foot-tall stuffed bear from his brother with a hint of concern. Mizuki was pleasantly surprised to note that his gift from Fuji did not seem to be alive, or poisonous. Upon unwrapping it, however, he let out a growl that would have sent the bravest lion scurrying away in fear.

"A book?" Yumiko asked, peering over the manager's shoulder. "Tennis for Beginners. Really, Syusuke."

"He tries so hard, and fails each time, so I thought it'd be nice to give him a few tips," Fuji answered airily. Both of the gifts from his siblings had been gift cards to a store which sold medieval European torture devices, and he was in an amazingly good mood. It was true that Mizuki's present, the most brightly colored, florid, luminescent scarf in existence, would have given a lesser person a nervous aneurysm, but Fuji had survived, and the scarf was now wound round his shoulders in a gesture of defiance.

It was, of course, giving Yuuta and Yumiko splitting headaches, but that wasn't important.

"Oh! As an extra gift," Yumiko exclaimed, "I'll read everyone's fortunes. Mizuki-san, you'll find that I'm very accurate; I've never missed."

"She even predicted that I'd beat you, in that match against St. Rudolph," Fuji cut in, "though I suppose any amateur could've predicted that."

"Be civil," Yumiko chided. "I'll start with Yuuta. Let's see…" She spread out her cards. "Yuuta, during the next month, you'll have several victories…you'll get a girlfriend – how sweet! – and you'll lose her, due to certain lifestyle choices you'll make – oh dear."

Yuuta blinked, startled. "Er…"

"Oh no!" Yumiko cried out, looking at her watch with very transparent shock. "I have a party to attend in a few minutes! Oh darn. I suppose I will just have to predict Syusuke and Mizuki-san's fortunes at the same time. Do you mind?"

"No," said Fuji, though he was looking at her very strangely.

"Good." She spread out the cards again. "Hmm…you will both remain healthy throughout the month of January…and Mizuki-san, don't worry, your mother will get over her cold very soon without adverse effects."

"Yuuta-kun doesn't even know she's sick," Mizuki remarked, looking rather impressed.

"Of course," Yumiko answered serenely, and continued with her prophesizing. "…you'll also receive that scholarship you applied to yesterday, although you should beware of the specter of jealousy which will loom around you…and…oh, Mizuki-san, you're gay? Well, you'll be finding a partner sometime in the next week…" Another flip of her cards. "Syusuke, so will you. That's a strange coincidence."

Yuuta saw, very suddenly, where this was going, and realized why Yumiko and Syusuke were in the same family, and paled. "Nee-san," he hissed, "remember that I said I wanted them to be _friends_, and _nothing else…_"

"Quiet, Yuuta, you're disturbing the clairvoyance." It was doubtful that she had any idea what 'clairvoyance' even meant, but it was a nice word to throw around as a fortune teller. She flicked over the last set of cards and let out a very theatrical scream.

'What's wrong, Nee-san?" Fuji asked, though he looked more amused than concerned.

Yumiko's voice turned misty and faraway. "You two," she declared, in the voice of an Omniscient Spirit, "will find your eternal partners in _each other._"

Then, leaping to her feet with a speed rivaling Kajimoto's serve, she raced out the door before Yuuta, seething, could hit her with his stuffed bear.

--

At least they weren't fighting anymore.

Yumiko's departure had left the room in abrupt silence. Mizuki, having been convinced of Yumiko's powers in her mentions of his mother and his scholarship, was in a state of shock. And it was entirely impossible to tell _what _Fuji was thinking, though his smile looked more strained than usual.

Watching them, Yuuta considered the benefits of revealing the whole plot, but weighed against the negatives – namely, that Mizuki would murder him and Fuji would fangirl over his little brother's newfound evilness for years on end – the benefits were virtually null.

"I'm going to get more chocolate," he declared in a voice that very much overcompensated for the awkward silence previously permeating the room. "Would either of you like anything? No? Ok." And he escaped to the kitchen, where he peered surreptitiously at the living room.

"I don't think," Fuji said thoughtfully, "that it's possible."

"Exactly," Mizuki answered immediately. "No way. Completely impossible. Something like…like _that_ occurring is as probable as, say, Pluto not being a planet."

"You don't read the news much, do you, Mituli-san?" Fuji's attention had gravitated towards his magazine of European tortue methods, and his thought process was pretty obvious: 1. Buy torture device. 2. Use said device on Mizuki. 3. Prophecy is nullified because Mizuki is dead. 4. Everyone is happy, with maybe two, three exceptions at most, and one of those exceptions would be, well, dead. "What I meant, though, was that the only thing which would ever be attracted to you would be a cockroach."

"And, pray tell, why is that?"

"They're resistant to radiation, I believe." Fuji jerked his chin in the direction of his companion's practically glowing apparel.

Mizuki sneered. "_You're_ still wearing the scarf I gave you, which, being the most hideous thing I could find in the store, shows – following your logic - that you're as hardy as a roach."

"Indirectly, you just agreed that my brother was the only human compatible with you," Yuuta remarked thoughtfully. He had decided that the best course to follow was to simply relax and see what happened.

In some ways, he was every bit as corrupt as his older siblings. He was just capable of repressing the corruption.

"Actually," Mizuki stated loudly, "I think I will leave now. Thank you for the hospitality, Fuji-san. Come on, Yuuta-kun, Yanagisawa said he'd meet us at the tennis courts."

"Really? I was going to meet Echizen-kun there, too," Fuji commented.

"On second thought let's blow off Yanagisawa," Mizuki decided, "and just go to that Christmas party at St. Rudolph's."

"The one run by our 70-year-old nun supervisors?" Yuuta asked dryly. "In that case, I'd rather go with aniki. Besides, we're all going to Atobe-san's party tonight, aren't we?"

Fuji smiled. "Tennis courts it is then. Yuuta, would you like a ride? I believe Echizen's cousin is coming to pick me up." His smile widened. "My 'life-partner' over there can walk."

--

Nanako did, upon Yuuta's request, drive all three boys to the courts, though Ryoma, sitting in the front seat (which, Fuji mused, was surely illegal for someone of his height), didn't seem too pleased at the prospect of having both Mizuki and Fuji in the car – the damage the two of them could inflict at close proximities was legendary. Nevertheless, after Yuuta explained why his brother and his manager were not so much insulting each other as blatantly avoiding all contact, the undiluted snarky amusement emanating from Ryoma's corner of the vehicle was practically tangible.

"Fuji-sempai," Ryoma drawled, "I never imagined you'd try corrupting the good little Christian boys."

"Jealous, Ryoma-kun? I'd target you, but cheeky first-year brats are hardly to my taste."

"Completely not what Horio said – he was bragging about how his two years of sexual experience had helped him claim Seigaku's pretty-boy."

"That's completely over the line," Fuji said, looking positively sickened.

"True." Ryoma assumed a mildly apologetic expression. "Your new passion with Mizuki-san is obviously destroying all my preconceived notions of life in general, and my insults are a bit off. Sorry."

"There _is_ no passion," Mizuki snarled. "The fortune-telling must have been a mistake. There is no other solution."

Unfortunately, this statement was said right as they were walking onto the courts. And the mention of 'passion' and 'fortune-telling' led to questions from every member of the courts. And, especially since Shinji and An were there, it was soon common knowledge that Mizuki Hajime and Fuji Syusuke were madly in love, but due to a prophecy that stated that their firstborn child would be the death of both of them, they were forced to separate in tears.

An's rumors, while widespread, were never exactly accurate.

Even more unfortunately, Shishido and Ohtori had been lounging around the courts, and, while Shishido generally knew how to keep his mouth shut, Ohtori – hopeless sappy romantic that he was – relayed the story to Jirou, who let it slip to Gakuto and Oshitari. And Oshitari, the second-most sadistic being in the high-school tennis world, decided to wreak a bit of havoc, particularly since the first-place sadist was involved.

"Atobe," Oshitari drawled, in the distinctive Kansai accent which often made people want to either swoon or hit him very, very hard, "Jirou has just told me the most interesting story."

"If it's about our exploits last Tuesday, Jirou is lying, and I have absolutely nothing wrong with me," Atobe snapped back.

"Nothing to do with that, though you'll have to tell me about that later. Jirou just mentioned this tale of two tragic lovers, both of whom you know, that I imagine you'd find very interesting."

Atobe glanced up. He'd been watching his butler install a ten-foot-tall revolving ice sculpture in preparation for the upcoming party, but his interest had been piqued. "Really, Yuushi?" he murmured. "Do tell."

--

"_Once upon a time," _said Oshitari,_ "there lived a boy whose beauty made even the deities jealous. Eyes the color of sea-glass, polished thousands of times with the years, peered from underneath silky tresses which would have put even the dryads of old to shame. He was not weak; delicate, yes, but with a subtle strength only serving to emphasize his…well, y'know, he's not really masculine at all, scratch that last sentence. Basically, he was really, really hot." _

"Your storytelling is really something to be envied. Though if you ever mentioned that description to Gakuto, he'd rip out your throat."

Oshitari shrugged. "Gakuto's realized long ago that there are prettier people in the world than he. Now he's just aiming for 'most attractively wanton'. But back to the story. _This boy happened, somehow, to fall in love. And although his love was not nearly as attractive as he, and would also probably die of radiation poisoning in a matter of years, their bond was strong, and pure. So they thought they were happy. But suddenly, a witch rose from nowhere, and cursed them: their firstborn child would be the death of both of them." _

"Wait," said Atobe. "I'm pretty sure the first boy you were talking about was Fuji Syusuke, right?"

"You catch on quick."

"And the second, judging by the mention of 'radiation poisoning', is undoubtedly Mizuki Hajime."

"You're one to talk," Oshitari said mildly. "But yeah, it is."

Atobe chose to ignore his friend's first comment. "Then, pray tell, how the hell would they have a kid? And, while we're at it, I thought Fuji wanted Mizuki dead."

"All right." Oshitari fully abandoned his mystical storytelling voice. "Basically – and I have this firsthand from Fuji Syusuke, since we keep up a constant email correspondance concerning where the newest torture devices can be purchased – Fuji Yumiko, who is a very well-reputed fortune teller, read in the stars or whatnot that Fuji Syusuke and Mizuki would somehow become 'eternal life partners' or something within the next week."

Atobe laughed. "And? That's amusing, sure, but you always have an ulterior motive."

"Ah, dear captain, you know me so well." Oshitari grinned wickedly. "I managed to reach Fuji Yumiko herself, and she revealed that it was all an evil plot and that the heavens didn't really give a shit about the romantic workings of high-school tennis players. So, Atobe-_sama_, I want you to make sure that the prophecy actually comes true."

"What do I get from it?"

"You'll be helping two people create a wonderful relationship."

"As if. Try again."

"You'll be bringing Christmas joy to the world."

"Christmas is good only for the presents. One more try."

Oshitari smiled. "You'll love doing it."

"That's better." Atobe stood up from his couch. "Chieko," he murmured to one of the maids, who had successfully glued fake icicles to her hair somehow, "I want you to wander around during the party with sprigs of mistletoe. Every time you see Fuji Syusuke standing next to a boy in what will probably be the brightest shirt in the room, place mistletoe directly over their heads. Understand?"

"Yes. Fuji Syusuke is coming? Ohhh –"

"For the last time, Chieko, he's about a straight as a hyperbola." He sent her away with an imperious wave of his hand, an action he did so much that Oshitari often had to warn him about the dangers of the carpal tunnel syndrome.

Nevertheless, the tensai grinned. "Excellent touch, Atobe."

"It's only the beginning," was the expected answer, and the soft laughter that followed sent chills up the tensai's spine. (It could also have been the giant ice rink newly installed in Atobe's mansion, but that was so much less dramatic.)

--

_A/N: Yep. So that's the end of part one. A pretty sucky way to end it, but gosh I'm really tired (have been entertaining people all day, aghhhh.) _

_Happy Holidays, all. (Yeah, really late, but oh well.)_


End file.
